Yuja Wang + MTT = a brilliant synergy
Chopin collaboration proves greater than the sumof the parts
Any time Yuja Wang and Michael Tilson Thomas share the stage, something remarkable happens: a synergy that makes the music at hand sound fresh and new.
It happened again Wednesday evening at Davies Symphony Hall, as the acclaimed pianist joined Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor.
They partnered brilliantly, infusing this Romantic warhorse with verve and irresistible sparkle.
Wang’s appearance was just one highlight of the program, which introduced repertoire that will be featured in the Symphony’s fast-approaching Asian tour.
From Nov. 9-22, Tilson Thomas and the orchestra will make stops in South Korea, Taiwan, China and Japan.
Based on Wednesday’s performance, which also included Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 in E major, and Tilson Thomas’ “Agnegram,” music lovers in the East are in for a very big treat.
The program repeats at Davies Hall through Friday evening.
Wang, who made her S.F. Symphony debut in 2006 — Tilson Thomas was one of her early cham- pions — makes a dazzling impression even before she plays a note.
Known for her glamorous concert attire (her designers should get a credit in every printed program), she came onstage looking fabulous in a full-length, form-fitting, white-gold sequined gown.
Her performance of Chopin’s concerto was just as arresting.
The 1830 score was inspired by Konstancja Gladkowska, a young singer with whom the 20-year-old Chopin had fallen deeply in love.
His feelings were unrequited, but the infatuation produced a work reflecting both youthful exuberance and Romantic allure.
Wang’s flawless playing brought out the score’s ardor and puckish charm in equal measure.
With Tilson Thomas and the orchestra lending luxuriant support, the pianist made an assertive entrance in the concerto’s first movement, traversing its rippling, light-refracting passagework with astonishing clarity. Her fioritura in the tender Larghetto was expressed with warmth and melting beauty.
Wang maintained the dreamy atmosphere into the opening of the glittering rondo finale, yet her characteristic ebullience, fueled by the orchestra’s alert, focused playing, brought the performance to an ideally vivacious close.
She returned for a solo encore, a lustrous performance of Chopin’s Waltz No. 7 in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2.
The program also in- cluded an enveloping performance of Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony.
Tilson Thomas, who last conducted the work at Davies in 2013 and will present it on the Asian tour, returned to it Wednesday with fervor — an approach that stands in rebuke to those who dismiss Bruckner’s large-scale works as too dense and too ponderous.
Charting a meticulously detailed path through the expansive first movement, the conductor elicited finely etched contributions from each section. The pacing of the Adagio was also well-judged; the Symphony’s brass players made heroic contributions, with the Wagner tubas asserting themselves with conviction.
The Scherzo registered with urgency, and Tilson Thomas’ drive and directness brought the Finale to an eloquent close.
The evening got off to a high-spirited start with Tilson Thomas the composer. “Agnegram,” written in 1998 for, and dedicated to, the late S.F. Symphony patron Agnes Albert on the occasion of her 90th birthday, builds its themes using the letters of Albert’s name as musical notes.
Tilson Thomas has revised the score since its last performance, in February 2008, and he and the orchestra returned to it Wednesday with relish.
It’s a witty six-minute romp, filled with high spirits, jazzy swagger and wellplaced musical quotes. It, too, will make a featured appearance on the Asian tour.